Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during his address to the United Nations General Assembly, accusing him of spreading false claims about Israel and contributing to an environment in which Jewish residents no longer feel safe.
Speaking at the UNGA in New York on Thursday, 24 September 2026, Netanyahu defended Israel’s military actions and criticised those accusing the country and its soldiers of wrongdoing. He also directly addressed Mamdani, who has criticised Israel’s actions in Gaza and called for Netanyahu’s arrest over alleged war crimes.
“To all those who are spouting lies about my country and about our brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the anti-semitic Mayor of New York, I say this, ‘Shame on you. Shame on you for distorting the facts. Shame on you for inverting victim and aggressor. Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth.'”
Netanyahu then accused Mamdani of failing to condemn individuals and posts he said were supportive of Hamas and the 7 October 2023, massacre.
He said, “Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York. They talk to me. They tell me, “This isn’t the city we remember. It changed so quickly.” It’s no wonder. You praise criminals convicted of supporting Hamas. You count as friends people like Hasan Piker, who said America deserved 9/11. “America deserved 9/11.” Some friends you have. You invited to your home a Palestinian journalist who filmed Hamas terrorists beating and torturing Israeli hostages, and later admitted that he refused to publish the videos in order to protect, you guessed it, the terrorists. Your wife liked a post praising the October 7th massacre. She liked another post saying Tel Aviv shouldn’t exist. You refuse to condemn any of that. You falsely and repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide. Mr. Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here. You tried to silence me. Well, you can’t silence me. You can’t silence the truth. And here’s the simple truth. Here’s a simple truth: Israel didn’t commit genocide; Israel prevented genocide.”
#WATCH | New York | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, “…Mr. Mamdani, you try to stop me from coming here. You tried to silence me. Well, you can’t silence me. You can’t silence the truth…”
“Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no… pic.twitter.com/bT5hfaiwmF
— ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2026
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